METHOD AND APARTMENT TO TRANSMIT OSD INFORMATION TO
A REMOTE VI REMOVAL DEVICE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
TECHNICAL FIELD Inventive arrangements generally refer to video reproduction and recording systems that produce video signals to be displayed on display devices.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATIVE TECHNIQUE
Digital television (DTV) and high definition television (HDTV) are gaining popularity in today's consumer electronics market. Many buyers of these types of televisions also purchase digital systems for playback or video recording such as digital video recorders (DVD) or DVD players for the purpose of previewing previously recorded programs or recording their favorite programs. Notably, the combination of ur to DTV (or an HDTV) and a system for playing or recording can be an integral part of a home theater entertainment system. A digital video playback or recording system typically contains an MPEG decoder to decode the digitally encoded multimedia information that is 2
stored on the discs that the recorder plays. If the digital video playback or recording system is connected to a conventional television (not DTV or non-HDTV), the digitally encoded signal will be decoded by the MPEG decoder of the playback or recording system before being displayed on conventional television . However, significantly, most DTVs contain their own MPEG decoders. As such, if a reproduction or recording system is connected to a DTV, the system can be arranged so that the coded digital video signal read from the storage disk of the system is transmitted to and decoded remotely by the decoder of the DTV's . There is, however, a significant disadvantage in decoding digitally encoded signals with a remote DTV decoder. Namely, it is very difficult to provide on-screen display (OSD) in this type of rule. Generally, DVD recorders and conventional televisions contain complementary circuits to generate OSD signals. An OSD is a user interface that can, through transparency superimposed on program images, notify a user of certain functions of the digital recording or playback system. For example, if the DVD recorder is performing a trick mode of fast forwarding to three times (3XXX) the normal playback speed, the OjSD can display this information on the conventional television screen as it is carried out. trick mode. There are several reasons why the generation of the OSD signal is hindered by the DTV playback / recording / arrangement system discussed above. First, it is difficult to generate the OSD signals in the DTV because the DTV decoder is located remote from the playback or recording system, and as such, DTV is generally not aware of the functions that are performed by these systems. . Also, generating the OSD signal in the playback or recording device and incorporating an OSD signal to the bit stream that is being transferred to the DTV can cause this bit stream to exceed the bandwidth limit between the reproduction or recording system and the DTV. Thus, there is a need for a method and system for generating and displaying OSDs indicative of the functions that are performed by a device that can be remote from the display device without increasing the costs or complexity of the system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method for generating and sending to a remote deployment device having a decoder thereon, a user command, or status information, in a digitally encoded ideo signal containing a plurality of images, including one or more modified images. The method includes the steps of: generating at least a digitally encoded clue representing the user's command, or status information; and modifying at least one image from a plurality of images that are being sent to the display device by replacing at least a portion of the image with the digitally coded clue, so that the clue is decoded and displayed when the image is decoded and displayed by the remote deployment device. In one arrangement, the method may further include the step of reading the digitally encoded signal from a storage medium contained in the apparatus, and the generation step and the modification step may be performed during the reading step. Alternatively, the generation step can be performed before the reading step, and the modification step can be performed during the readout step. The generation step can be followed in this case by the storage footprint of the digitally encoded indicia in a storage device and by accessing the indicia and modifying the image in response to the user's command, or an event that requires the deployment of the status. In any embodiment, at least a portion of the indicia may be comprised of intra macrolaques. In the array where the generation step can be performed before the read step, the clue can be stored in a frame that will be accessed during the modification step. Additionally, in any modality, the image may be 5
a bidirectional forecast image. The bidirectional prediction image may contain a plurality of slices wherein each slice may contain a plurality of image macroblocks. Also, the portion of the bidirectional prediction image that is replaced by the intra macroblocks comprising the indicia may be a predetermined number of the plurality of image macroblocks in at least one of the plurality of slices. In addition, at least one of the plurality of image macroblocks in at least one of the plurality of slices, which is replaced by one of the intra macroblocks comprising the indicia is placed at the end of that slice corresponding to the image macroblock. . The present invention also provides an apparatus for generating and transmitting to a remote display device a digitally encoded video signal containing a plurality of images, including images modified to include digitally encoded indicia of a user command, or status information, the digitally encoded video signal that is decoded and displayed by the remote deployment device. The apparatus comprises: a signal input for receiving a digitally encoded video signal representative of a plurality of images; a generator for generating a digitally encoded indicia representing a user command, or status information associated with the apparatus; a processor coupled to the generator to modify, in response I user command, or an event that 6
it requires displaying the status information, at least one image of a plurality of images in the digital video signals encoded by replacing at least a portion of the image with the digitally encoded cue so that the cue is decoded and displayed when the image is decoded and displayed in the deployment device; and a signal output for transmitting an output signal including the digitally encoded video signal having the modified image to the remote deployment device.
BRIEF D ESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The aforementioned and other aspects and advantages of this invention, and the manner of obtaining them, will be more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system that can generate a user interface for digital televisions according to the inventive arrangement therein. Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating an operation to generate a user interface for digital televisions according to the nventive arrangements. Figure 3A is a slice in a bidirectional prediction image in which the slice contains a plurality of
macroblocks according to the inventive arrangements. Figure 3B is another slice in a bidirectional prediction image in which the slice contains a plurality of macroblocks according to the inventive arrangements. The examples set forth herein illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and such examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any way.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A system 100 for implementing the arrays of the invention is shown in block diagram form in Figure 1. The invention, however, is not limited to the particular system illustrated in Figure 1, since the invention can be practiced with any other system capable of receiving a digitally encoded signal and transfer that signal to a deployment device. This includes any digital video production or recording system. In addition, the system 100 is not limited to reading information from or writing information for any particular type of storage medium, since any storage medium capable of storing digitally encoded information with the system 100, such as optical media and drivers, can be used. of hard disk. The system 100 includes a controller 110 for reading information 8
and write information for a storage medium 112. The system 100 also includes a microprocessor 114, a search engine 116, encoder / codec 118, display and display devices 120 or memory 124. The codee 118 contains software and circuits suitable for encoding and decoding video signals, including signals that are read from the storage means 112, or are generated in the generator 122. Control and data interfaces may also be provided to allow the microprocessor 114 to control the operation of the controller 112, the search engine 116 and the codee 118. and to allow the microprocessor 114 to access frame 124. Adequate software or firmware can be provided in the memory for conventional operations performed by the microprocessor 114. In addition, program routines for the microprocessor 114 can be provided according to the arrangements of the invention. It should be understood that all or portions of the microprocessor 114, codee 118 and frame 124 can be considered to be Orman's generator 122 in consideration of the present invention. In operation, the controller 110 can read a digitally encoded video signal containing a plurality of 112 storage medium images. The microprocessor 114 can receive a command from the user and the video signal can be sent to the search engine 116. The search engine 116 can then search the video signal for a suitable image that can be modified to insert an OSD signal. . Once it is located 9
suitable image 116 search engine microprocessor signal 114, and microprocessor 114 and codee 118 generate a digitally encoded indicia representative of the user's command, or status information, which may be used to replace at least a portion of the image. As such, the digitally coded indicia representative of the user's command can be generated as the coded video signal is read from the storage means 112. In an alternative arrangement, the microprocessor 114 can instruct the codec 118 for gene to the one or more digitally encoded indicia representative of one or more user commands or status information. The indicia generated can then be stored in frame 124, which can be accessed by microprocessor 114 when necessary. Once the microprocessor 114 receives a user command, or an event that requires the display of the status information, the microprocessor 114 accesses from the box 124 the digitally representative indication of that command, or status information, and instructs the codec 118 to replace at least a portion of the selected image with the previously generated indicia. In any arrangement, the video signal containing the modified images can be transferred to the display device 120 and decoded by a decoder included in the display device 120 to generate a signal representative of an image that includes on-screen display. According to 10
displays the modified image on the deployment device 120, the indicia in the modified image can also be displayed. The overall operation of the invention will be discussed in more detail below. Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart 200 demonstrating a manner in which a user interface for a digital television can be generated. In step 210, a video signal containing a plurality of images can be transmitted from a video signal source to a display device. In one arrangement, the video signal may be a digitally encoded video signal read from a storage medium contained in the video signal source. In addition, the display device may be remotely located from the video signal source so that the display device is a separate entity relative to the videD signal source. further, the display device may include its own decoder so that at least a portion of the digitally encoded signal is decoded in the display device. In step 212, a command is received from the user. In decision block 214, if a previously generated clue representative of the user's command is not to be used for display purposes of that clue, then flow chart 200 continues to step
220. As shown] in step 220, a digitally coded clue representative of the user's command, or status information can be generated. This type of generation can be alluded to as generating clues | "on the fly". Alternatively, if previously generated clues are not to be used, then a previously generated clue representative of the user's command can be retrieved from a frame, for example, as shown in step 216. In step 218, at least one image of the plurality of images in the db video signal is modified by replacing at least a portion of the image with the clue, either pre-generated or generated on the fly. Thus, if the clue is generated on the fly, then the generation step (step 220) and the modification step (step 218) can be performed as the digitally encoded video signal of the storage medium is read. If the cue was previously generated, the modification step (step 218) can also be done as the signal is read, however, the generation step (step 216) can be performed before the video signal is read digitally encoded from the storage medium. In step 222, the modified image (which now contains the clue representing the user's command) is decoded by a decoder in the display device so that the modified image can be displayed in such a way that the on-screen display indicator of the user's command, or status information is displayed as the image is displayed. In the decision block 224, if the display of the clue is to continue, then the process of generating a user interface to step 212 may continue. If not, the flow chart 200 is stopped in step 226. , according to the arrangements of the invention as discussed in flowchart 200, a user can see any user commands or status displays generated by the reader / player, either automatically initiated or initiated by the user. Returning to the generation steps (steps 220 and 216) and the modification step (step 218), in an array, at least a portion of the clue, whether previously generated or generated on the fly, may be constituted by macroblocks. As an example, these macroblocks can be intra (I) macroblocks. These macroblocks
I can be used to replace the portion of the image that is replaced. It is, however, fended that the invention is not limited in this respect, since the indicia can be any other suitable form of information that can be inserted into an image for purposes of representing a user command. In another arrangement, the image to be modified in step 218 is a bidirectional (B) prediction image. Modification images
B according to step 218 can reduce the effects of any artifacts that may appear in the display of the modified image, since none of the images in the video signal is predicted to be typical! However, the invention is not limited in this respect, since other images such as I and prediction images (P) can also be modified in accordance with the arrangements of the invention. The following discourse illustrates an example of how it can be 13
modified an image so that a clue can be inserted in the image and displayed. As will be explained below, this discussion can be applied to I, P and B images. This example, however, will mainly focus on how an image B can be modified. The B images in the video signal can be images based on MPEG and, as such, may have a plurality of slices. In addition, each slice may contain a plurality of macroblocks. For purposes of the invention and to minimize confusion, these macroblocks will be referred to as image macroblocks. Remarkably, the portion of the image B that is replaced by the macroblocks constituting the indicia may be a predetermined number of the plurality of image macroblocks in at least one of the plurality of slices. It is understood that the macroblocks of image in the image B that are replaced by the macroblocks that constitute the indicia can be any type of macroblock. Figures 3A-3B can help explain how images B can be modified. Figure 3A shows an example of a slice in a B image that contains 120 image macroblocks, a rule that is prevalent in many images that are displayed in a digital television. It is understood, however, that the method is not limited to this format, since other suitable image standards can be used to practice the invention. These image macroblocks can be referred to as original image macroblocks. In an array, the predetermined number of the original image macroblocks that will be replaced by the macroblocks that constitute the cue may be a segment of image macroblocks in which the last original image macroblock to be replaced is the last macroblock of a slice content. As an example, at least a portion of the m acroblocks that constitute the clue can replace the last, twenty original image macroblocks of the slice shown in Figure 3A. Thus, the original macroblocks 101 to 120 of the slice image can be replaced by at least a portion of the macroblocks that constitute the clue. The previous example applies whether the clue was generated on the fly or was previously generated. In addition, to facilitate the replacement of the original image macroblocks in image B, at least a portion of each of the original image macroblocks in the slice, at least up to the last original image macroblock that will not be replaced, they can be decoded for purposes of determining the location in the slice where the macroblocks of the index will be placed. For example, continuing with the example, at least a portion of original macroblocks 1 to 100 can be decoded. This decoding step can help in locating the position in the slice where the index macroblocks are to be positioned. In an array, this location can be a predetermined default location. In another arrangement, this location can be location to be selected by the user. It is preferred to replace the original image macroblocks according to the previous discussion, that is, so that the index macroblocks are at the end of the slice, since no other macroblock will be predicted from the index macroblock placed at the end of the slice. The slice It is understood, however, that the invention is not limited in this particular manner, since the index macroblocks can be inserted at any location in the slice. Figure 3B shows an example of how a number of cue macroblocks can be placed on the slice so that the last macroblock on the replenishment is an original image macroblock. Although the basic replacement step is the same, there are several slight differences between the modification step of Figure 3A and the modification step of Figure 3B. In this example, the original image macroblocks 50 to 70 can be replaced by at least a portion of the macroblocks that constitute the indicia. Since the last macroblock in the slice is not a cue macroblock, the original image macroblock (macroblock 71) adjacent to the last cue macroblock (macroblock 70) can be modified, if necessary, to reduce the possibility of a problem with predictions subsequent of macroblocks of image. This process of rewriting may depend on whether certain original macroblocks are macroblocks I. Continuing with the example, at least a portion of the original image nacroblocks 1 to 71 shown in Figure 3B can be decoded. In an array, the portion of the original image macroblocks to be decoded may be the motion vectors present in each image macrobioque. Similar to the process described in Figure 3A, this decoding step can help locate the desired position in the slice where the cue macroblocks can be placed. Furthermore, this decoding step can also determine which of the original image macroblocks are macroblocks I. In this example, if it is determined that the original image macrobiox or the original image macroblock 71 are macroblocks I, then the macroblocks 50 70 of the original images can be replaced by the trainings by a portion of the index macroblocks, and it is unnecessary or modify any of the remaining original image macroblocks to ensure subsequent appropriate predictions. If, for the purposes of this example, the original image macroblocks 70 and 71 are not macroblocks I, then the original image macrobioche adjacent to the last index macrobiobe (macrobioche 71) can be modified. In an array, the original image macrobioque 71 can be re-encoded so that the motion vector of the original image macrobiox 71 is restored to its real value, not the value from which it was initially predicted. As a result, subsequent predictions from the macrobiochem of the original image will not be altered by the scope of the invention as defined by claims.